A Ukrainian schoolgirl has been denied a British visa while her pet guinea pigs are allowed to cross the border.
Nataliia Zavhorodnia, 15, could be forced back to the war zone alone next month if the Home Office does not approve her entry to Scotland where she has been matched with a family in Hamilton.
The teenager fled the Russian invasion along with her aunt Millena Kornieieva, 34, whose visa has been approved, reports the Daily Record.
In a bizarre twist of government red tape, her guinea pigs Melon and Julienne were also granted the right to enter Scotland by officials at the Department of Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
Meanwhile, Nataliia's case hangs in limbo as she hopes to join Kate and Martin Fuller, who want to give the pair a spare room at their Scottish home.
She and her aunt were able to link up with the couple via a Ukrainian refugee Facebook group after their Homes for Ukraine application was approved by the UK Government.
"Why can’t she just come here? She’s a little girl. I just don’t get what the problem is," Kate, 40, said.
"It’s quite unbelievable that her guinea pigs can get into the country but she can’t. The system is all over the place."
Nataliia's mum Hanna made the heartbreaking decision that her daughter should leave their home in Kyiv where girls are under threat from invading Russian troops.
Hanna, 42, remains in the Ukrainian capital with Nataliia’s nine-year-old brother Sasha and dad Oleksii, 42, who is helping with the war effort.
Nataliia and Millena's visa applications were submitted on April 1, with her aunt's approved on April 16.
But the teenager's application was hit with multiple delays while her guinea pigs' entry was approved in an email last Wednesday under a special Ukrainian pets scheme.
Nataliia has now written an emotional letter to the Home Office in which she describes the horrors of war and her plea to come to Scotland.
She described seeing daed people, machine guns, and houses hit by a rocket and destroyed, in an email which Kate forwarded to UK government officials last week.
“I felt what’s like when your house shaking from the bombing, when you’re sitting in a shelter and just hoping it wouldn’t get hit,' Nataliia wrote.
"When you sleep fully dressed and with the lights on, to get your stuff quickly and go to a safer place.
"It was really traumatising to read the news of dead children and understand that you are no different from them and you are just lucky.
“Or to hold your mother’s hand while trying to sleep, because you’re just scared to fall asleep.
“Time is running out and I can’t wait for the visa any longer. I will have to return to Ukraine, return to danger, return and live again with the war outside my window.
“From the age of eight, I read everything I could find about Scotland and its traditions. I dreamt to go to this country as far as I remember.
“I can’t go home now, I can’t go back to war now.”
Nataliia and her aunt initially headed towards Moldova after fleeing Kyiv before arriving at neighbouring Hungary where they found temporary accommodation in Budapest.
But they have to leave there on June 4, meaning they have less than two weeks left to receive a final decision on Nataliia's UK visa.
Millena, who left behind her fiance Alexandar Zarholulko who is serving in the Ukrainian army, will have to decide what to do if it does not arrive in time.
She can either move to Scotland on her own, go back to Ukraine with Nataliia or into a refugee camp in Moldova.
The three options were presented to the pair by the Home Office when they asked what would happen to Nataliia.
Kate, who works for AXA Health, told the Sunday Mail: "You can’t send her back to a war zone on her own. And you’re not going to put a wee girl in a refugee camp in Moldova on her own.
"We thought the delay might be because she is travelling without her parents but we have submitted legal documents, her parents’ passports, proof from the school that she is continuing education.
"We’ve sent everything we could possibly send but still nothing. If Millena comes on her own, Nataliia will then become an unaccompanied minor.
"The chances of getting Nataliia here then are much slimmer."
Kate and Martin, a 37-year-old delivery driver, went through a string of checks to have their application to house a Ukrainian refugee approved by the UK government.
They said they wanted to do all they could to open up their home they share with their cocker spaniel Jura after seeing the horrors of the Russian war on Ukraine.
"I speak to them every day. We are all friends now, they feel like family already," Kate said.
"People think the UK government are trying their best. No they’re not, they’re not even trying at all."
MP Margaret Ferrier has been campaigning for Nataliia’s visa issue to be resolved.
She said: "The thought of a young girl being separated from her guardian and sent back to a warzone or to a refugee camp is unacceptable.
"My team have spent hours on the phone to the Home Office attempting to get an answer as to why Nataliia’s visa hasn’t
been approved.
"We have written repeatedly to every contact the Home Office have provided since Mrs Fuller first contacted us, but despite assurances, the Home Office do not seem to be taking action."
The Home office explained that Nataliia's application has been put on hold because she is travelling as an unaccompanied minor.
This means she does not fulfil the criteria as she is not travelling with her aunt and is not travelling to join a legal parent or guardian.
A government spokesperson told the Mirror Online: "Unaccompanied minors are only eligible under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme if they are reuniting with a parent or legal guardian in the UK. This is outlined in the Immigration Rules.
"We have recently announced a £45m package of support to protect the most vulnerable people in Ukraine and the region and support to organisations on the ground helping children fleeing the conflict."
